Connectivity Planning to Address Climate Change

As the climate changes, human land use may impede species from tracking areas with suitable climates. Maintaining connectivity between areas of different temperatures could allow organisms to move along temperature gradients and allow species to continue to occupy the same temperature space as the climate warms. We used a coarse‐filter approach to identify broad corridors for movement between areas where human influence is low while simultaneously routing the corridors along present‐day spatial gradients of temperature. We modified a cost–distance algorithm to model these corridors and tested the model with data on current land‐use and climate patterns in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The resulting maps identified a network of patches and corridors across which species may move as climates change. The corridors are likely to be robust to uncertainty in the magnitude and direction of future climate change because they are derived from gradients and land‐use patterns. The assumptions we applied in our model simplified the stability of temperature gradients and species responses to climate change and land use, but the model is flexible enough to be tailored to specific regions by incorporating other climate variables or movement costs. When used at appropriate resolutions, our approach may be of value to local, regional, and continental conservation initiatives seeking to promote species movements in a changing climate. Planificación de Conectividad para Atender el Cambio Climático     

Land trust evaluation of progress toward conservation goals

In the United States local land trusts preserve and conserve land to protect water quality and supply, farmlands, habitat for native plants and animals, areas of cultural or historical significance, and scenic views. We surveyed the 24 active, local land trusts in North Carolina (U.S.A.) to determine how they report progress toward attaining such conservation goals. Twenty-two land trusts responded to our survey. Of these, eight reported developing specific conservation goals for all of the properties they protect, five identified conservation targets on all properties, and two reported monitoring biological indicators on all of their protected properties. On the basis of these results, we believe most of the land trusts surveyed could not determine whether they were meeting conservation goals because most did not identify explicit, measurable goals and monitor progress toward them. Instead they reported success in terms of the amount of land protected and money raised. We think this is a lost opportunity for land trusts to build sound approaches to environmental management, engage the public, entice new donors, and attain funding for additional conservation activities. We propose conservation professionals help local land trusts adopt the Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation, a framework developed by a consortium of international conservation organizations, to develop conservation goals and measure whether the goals are achieved.     

Experimental evidence for the effects of chronic anthropogenic noise on abundance of Greater Sage-Grouse at leks

Increasing evidence suggests that chronic noise from human activities negatively affects wild animals, but most studies have failed to separate the effects of chronic noise from confounding factors, such as habitat fragmentation. We played back recorded continuous and intermittent anthropogenic sounds associated with natural gas drilling and roads at leks of Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus). For 3 breeding seasons, we monitored sage grouse abundance at leks with and without noise. Peak male attendance (i.e., abundance) at leks experimentally treated with noise from natural gas drilling and roads decreased 29% and 73%, respectively, relative to paired controls. Decreases in abundance at leks treated with noise occurred in the first year of the study and continued throughout the experiment. Noise playback did not have a cumulative effect over time on peak male attendance. There was limited evidence for an effect of noise playback on peak female attendance at leks or male attendance the year after the experiment ended. Our results suggest that sage-grouse avoid leks with anthropogenic noise and that intermittent noise has a greater effect on attendance than continuous noise. Our results highlight the threat of anthropogenic noise to population viability for this and other sensitive species.     

Trends in Deforestation and Forest Degradation after a Decade of Monitoring in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in Mexico

We used aerial photographs, satellite images, and field surveys to monitor forest cover in the core zones of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in Mexico from 2001 to 2012. We used our data to assess the effectiveness of conservation actions that involved local, state, and federal authorities and community members (e.g., local landowners and private and civil organizations) in one of the world's most iconic protected areas. From 2001 through 2012, 1254 ha were deforested (i.e., cleared areas had <10% canopy cover), 925 ha were degraded (i.e., areas for which canopy forest decreased), and 122 ha were affected by climatic conditions. Of the total 2179 ha of affected area, 2057 ha were affected by illegal logging: 1503 ha by large‐scale logging and 554 ha by small‐scale logging. Mexican authorities effectively enforced efforts to protect the monarch reserve, particularly from 2007 to 2012. Those efforts, together with the decade‐long financial support from Mexican and international philanthropists and businesses to create local alternative‐income generation and employment, resulted in the decrease of large‐scale illegal logging from 731 ha affected in 2005–2007 to none affected in 2012, although small‐scale logging is of growing concern. However, dire regional social and economic problems remain, and they must be addressed to ensure the reserve's long‐term conservation. The monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) overwintering colonies in Mexico—which engage in one of the longest known insect migrations—are threatened by deforestation, and a multistakeholder, regional, sustainable‐development strategy is needed to protect the reserve. Tendencias en la Deforestación y la Degradación de Forestal después de una Década de Monitoreo en la Reserva de la Biósfera de la Mariposa Monarca en México     

雷特超强堵漏剂在元陆9井的应用

元坝区块须家河组地层极易发生井漏,增加了钻井风险,严重影响了施工进度。分析了须家河组地层的漏失原因和堵漏难点,介绍了雷特超强堵漏剂的堵漏机理和性能优势,对雷特承压堵漏技术在元陆9井须家河组地层的成功堵漏实践进行了详细剖析。现场应用表明:雷特承压堵漏技术适用于须家河组地层,在相同漏失程度下,雷特堵漏的施工时间仅为常规堵漏的1/10,堵漏材料的消耗量仅为常规堵漏的1/19,一次堵漏成功率100%,堵漏效果显著,为类似地层的堵漏施工提供参考。     

城市污水处理厂污水处理工艺对VOCs挥发特征影响

对广州市某污水处理厂入厂原水进行了现场水样采集,用吹扫捕集-气相色谱质谱法测定了水样中VOCs含量.在污水处理厂入水口中共检出20种VOCs,浓度范围为0.1789~21.89μg/L.基于实测数据和构筑物结构参数,对该厂4种不同的污水处理工艺流程(包括A-B工艺,UNITANK工艺,改良A2/O脱氮除磷工艺和改良A2/O 高效沉淀工艺)利用WATER9模型计算了各工艺主要构筑物VOCs的挥发速率和挥发总量.挥发速率最大工艺为A-B工艺,其值为0.2318g/s;构筑物加盖的改良A2/O高效沉淀工艺挥发速率最小为0.0426g/s.各个工艺中挥发速率最大的单元有生物处理池和沉淀池,主要成分有苯、甲苯、三氯甲烷、四氯乙烯.根据VOCs挥发速率和污水处理量计算了VOCs在构筑物加盖和不加盖情况下的排放因子,并估算了珠江三角洲地区污水处理厂VOCs的总排放量,发现构筑物加盖可大大减少城市污水处理厂的排放率,削减率可达到74.72%.     

嗜酸氧化亚铁硫杆菌对龙门挂架表面铜的浸出效果

龙门挂架(下称挂架)是线路板生产过程必用的固定支架,生产线路板时挂架表面会附着大量铜,使得挂架需经酸法处理后才能回用,造成大量废液和恶劣的工作环境. 为此,采用环境友好的微生物技术回收挂架表面的Cu,分析了A.f菌(Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans,嗜酸氧化亚铁硫杆菌)脱除挂架表面Cu的效果及9K培养基不同配比(以w计,分别为100%、50%、25%)的影响,并初步解析其浸出过程. 结果表明:①添加100%的9K培养基时,A.f菌浸出挂架及其配件的溶液中ρ(Cu2+)均最高,分别达2.31和1.06 g/L,挂架及其配件表面Cu均已脱除. ②结合浸出液中ρ(Cu2+)、ρ(Fe2+)和pH随时间的变化及三者之间的相互影响关系可知,浸铜过程为A.f菌先将溶液中的Fe2+氧化为Fe3+,Fe3+再将挂架表面的Cu氧化为Cu2+. ③利用一级动力学和二级动力学模型,对3种配比培养基下配件浸出液中的ρ(Cu2+)进行曲线拟合,二级动力学模型的R2(相关系数)分别为0.888 4、0.900 8、0.844 4,均高于一级动力学的R2,表明二级动力学模型更适用于Cu的浸取行为. 该生物浸出方法有望在线路板行业中进行应用.      

Compliance with recommended protective actions during an H7N9 emergency: a risk perception perspective

This study investigates the factors determining an individual's response to official recommended protective measures, based on the Health Belief Model and the Protective Action Decision Model, to understand the adoption of protective behaviour during an H7N9 (Avian Influenza A) emergency. A public survey involving 1,375 respondents was conducted in Anhui Province, China, during the 2013 H7N9 outbreak to test the research model and hypotheses. The results indicate that protective, stakeholder, and risk perceptions influence positively an individual's willingness to take recommended actions. Protective and stakeholder perceptions also have a positive bearing on lay people's risk perceptions. A stakeholder perception is a vital determinant of a protective perception. More importantly, the effects of protective and stakeholder perceptions on behavioural responses to recommendations are mediated in part by risk perception. These findings can help public health officials to develop messages to encourage members of the population to protect themselves effectively during an influenza crisis.     

Fetoplacental discrepancy involving structural abnormalities of chromosome 8 detected by prenatal diagnosis

We describe the finding of three cell lines involving different structural abnormalities of chromosome 8 detected in a prenatal diagnosis. Chorionic villi sampling (CVS) was performed on a pregnant woman because of advanced maternal age. Semidirect cytogenetic analysis showed a mos46,XX,i(8q)/46,XX,del(8)(p11.2) karyotype, confirmed by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Amniocentesis was subsequently performed, and the karyotype obtained was 46,XX,dup(8)(p23p11.2). The pregnancy was terminated; pathologic findings included clubfeet, clenched left hand, subcutaneous edema and bilateral hydrocephalus. Molecular studies using chromosome 8 microsatellites performed on parents' blood and fetal tissues revealed a maternal meiotic origin of the inv dup(8p) with deletion of the distal p23 region and duplication of the remaining 8p. We propose a model to explain the cytogenetic findings, which includes a first maternal meiotic error giving rise to a large dicentric isochromosome 8 present in the ovum, a second error in one of the first zygote divisions with misdivision of the dicentric 8 giving rise to a cell line with del(8p) confined to the trophoblast and another cell line with inv dup(8p) confined to the fetal tissue and a third error in the trophoblast giving rise to a further cell line with isochromosome 8q. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Prenatal diagnosis of 47,XX,der(15)t(15;16)(q13;p13.2)

A case of prenatally detected partial trisomy 15 and 16 is reported. Amniocentesis was performed at 14 weeks' gestation because a 6-mm nuchal translucency was detected on a dating ultrasound evaluation. Karyotype from amniocytes was suspect of an aberration concerning a marker chromosome. FISH analysis demonstrated that this marker chromosome was a der(15). A maternal chromosomal rearrangement t(15;16)(q13;p13.2) was confirmed. At birth, the proband was severely hydropic and had dysmorphic features, which included hypertelorism, micrognathia, incomplete separation of the maxilla and mandible, hyperflexed hands with overlapping fingers, hyposegmented right lung, and a single umbilical artery. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.